:)

Jamie asked me to spend the rest of my life with him...I said YES.

April 21, 2012 is just the beginning!

6 months

Thanksgiving together

Christmas time

Playing the Wii at my sister's house

Beautiful silver standup Kitchen aid mixer...Christmas present from Jamie

Fun week night date...Applewood By the River Looved the fried mushrooms :)

He picks a good bouquet of flowers

At our first Red's game

Hanging out at my parents house

I started dating a wonderful guy 6 months ago. In some ways it seems forever because we have been friends for so long. In other ways, things are still NEW. It has been an incredibly fun journey!He is so sweet and good to me. Sometimes I wonder how I would "manage" my own house if he wasn't around to fix things, install appliances, etc. etc. Many times I have come home from work to find the leaves raked, snow shoveled...one time he even broke into my house and did the dishes. I don't deserve it!
I LOVE spending time with him and also love that he enjoys going home to my parents just as much as I do. He bought me a Kitchen aid mixer for Christmas..and I didn't even ask. He has EVEN gone shopping with me a few times (something I NEVER imagined I would do with my boyfriend LOL) He is truly my best friend!

MY HERO...MY GRANDPA!

On August 13, 1950, at just 19 years of age, Raymond was granted the 3rd highest medal available (among more than 200 medals) to a soldier in the US Army. It might also be interesting to know that this medal is only granted to 1 in about 500,000 soldiers and only 1 Silver Star has been awarded since the current conflict with Iraq has ensued. This gives you some idea of its extreme significance.
The following is a synopsis of the actual presentation of the award made on August 13, 1950:
By direction of President Harry S Truman, the Silver Star (which you can see on display here tonight) for gallantry in action is awarded to the following named officers and enlisted men: Private First Class Raymond E. Collingsworth, RA15412586, Field Artillery, United States Army, a member of Battery B, 52nd Field Artillery Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, is awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action on 16 July 1950, near the Kum River, Korea. The 19th Regimental Combat Team, to which the 52nd Field Artillery battalion was attached, had been overrun by overwhelmingly large enemy forces. The enemy had also succeeded in placing a road-block between the withdrawing American units and safety. Several attempts had been made to clear the block. Private Collingsworth approached the senior officer present and volunteered to undertake any duty assigned to him. In the face of withering enemy fire, he assisted in rallying drivers, in overturning wrecked vehicles blocking the road, and in moving unattended vehicles that were impeding progress. He assisted in leading the wounded on operable vehicles and volunteered to man a machine gun that was mounted on one of them. With the approach of dusk, it was determined that a last effort should be made to clear the road-block since, at that time, enemy fire would be less accurate. Just before the signal to move was given, the driver of a quarter-ton truck abandoned his vehicle, thus blocking all behind him. Private Collingsworth coolly took over. He secured an automatic rifleman and a rifleman to assist himself and the convoy started. Private Collingsworth drove skillfully and courageously, refusing to stop even when other vehicles did so. He drove through three islands of enemy resistance in his break for safety. By his daring coolness and gallantry, Private Collingsworth assisted materially in extricating a group of completely surrounded men from certain annihilation. His actions brought high credit to himself and to the military service. He entered the military service from Dayton, Ohio.

World's Best (and easiest) Peanut Butter Fudge

So I made up the name of this fudge because we never had one for it. It is the easiest recipe for fudge I have ever come across. And one of the best!

The end result is a creamy chocolatey peanutbuttery fudge! :)

Ingredients:

1 lb of powdered sugar

1 cup of chocolate Nesquick powder

2 sticks of butter

1 cup of creamy peanut butter

Melt 2 sticks of butter

Mix in peanut butter

Stir in Nesquick

Stir in powdered sugar

Spread in a pan (I usually use a pie pan or something similar in size)

Refrigerate at least 1 hr

Enjoy!

Something new

Hamburger Ranchera...yum!

I just love new EASY recipes...so here is another ! :)

Hamburger Ranchera

Brown 1 lb of hamburger, adding 1 small can of green chilis.

Drain.

Mix 1 bag (I didn't use the whole bag) of lime tortilla chips, 1 large can of mushroom soup, 1 small can of olives, and the hamburger in a large bowl, crushing the chips.

Spread in a 9x13 pan and cover with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 deg. for about 15 min (to melt the cheese).

I fixed black beans to go with it. Love the lime taste that the chips add.

Enjoy!

RJB

Rylee Joy Baker made me Aunt Dani on April 1st. I love her to pieces!

Mother's Day

Bath time
All dressed up for church

1 day old
1 hr old

I LOVE easy, cheap recipes!

I found a new recipe for a very yummy soup....Bean-Potato Chowder. It is awesome and very cheap to make (about $6).

1 20 ounce package refrigerated diced potatoes with onions (I chose one with peppers added as well for a little extra flavor)

1 14 ounce can of vegetable broth (I prefer chicken broth...mostly because I searched for 5 minutes for vegetable broth with no success)

3 cups of milk

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1/3 cup of flour

1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, crushed

1 15 ounce can navy beans, drained and rinsed

In a 4 quart pot, combine potatoes and broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered for 4 minutes. Add milk, bring just to simmering
In a medium bowl, whisk cheese, flour and Italian seasoning together until combined, toss gently to coat. Gradually stir into potato mixture
Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Stir in drained beans, cook and stir for 1 minute

I made biscuits to dip in the soup. I love to buy the package of "cheesy garlic biscuits" mix. I get it from Walmart...one package is less than a $1 and you just add water (so easy!), mix and bake for 10 minutes. They are so good!

ENJOY!

(Reg and Dad..since you are my only "audience" you must make this recipe for your spouse so that it makes this post worth it:)

My favorite season..fall!

Bilko growing up!

I LOVE hoody weather and it's that time of year again! Wohoo!
I already have my Christmas tree up...BUT before you think ill thoughts towards me for skipping Thanksgiving. hear me out. I use my moms tree that she bought a couple of years ago and never uses. My parents brought it down last weekend and I don't have anywhere to store it so I went ahead and set it up. I don't have any lights on it yet. Thats the fun part but I am waiting until after Thanksgiving.

I started playing soccer again. Tonight is the 3rd game for "Team Shankapotamus". Having lots of fun and its great exercise.

I bought a new stove this week..my first appliance purchase since I bought the house. Can't wait to get it and start baking and cooking lots of yummy food! (Guess I better keep playing soccer:)

I don't have any pictures of the stuff I just talked about but a post is MUCH more interesting when there are pictures so I found a couple from the last couple of weeks of my life.

A star I got from Flower Factory (I didnt' have a ladder so I had to hang out the window to drive in the nail:)

I am going to be an AUNT....and no Brent isn't pregnant!!!

A strawberry cake I made one evening when I got off work early (love when that happens!)

Off to SOCCER!

Cheesecake Factory

Out to eat at Cheesecake Factory
The name of this dish is escaping me at the moment but it was SOO good. I might have to get it again. It was sweet corn cakes with guacamole and sour cream and a bunch of other stuff..yum!
I have been working a whole bunch lately. I have also been painting some on my house. I still have the downstairs bathroom, hallway and guest room to finish. I love picking out paint colors but can't decide what I want to do the guest room in yet.

Mom had a horse in her barn for a couple of weeks. Her name was Ella.

Lunging Ella

Off to work!!!